Victory for creators! European parliament votes to approve Copyright Directive

The European Parliament has voted to support the Copyright Directive, with a landslide victory of 438 votes in favour, 226 against and 39 abstentions. The Academy has been instrumental in making this happen. We have campaigned to bring about a fair copyright environment that stops big tech hiding behind ‘safe harbours’ to avoid taking out a licence and ensure that creators get more transparent and equitable payments.

Ahead of the vote, the UK music industry launched major campaign ‘#LoveMusic’ to help fight for the best possible future for everyone who works in the industry and who relies on music to make a living.

Commenting on the success, Chair of The Ivors Academy Crispin Hunt said:

“This is a significant victory for music, for journalism, for photography; indeed for art of any kind. The Directive will help re-balance the digital market for music, providing an online framework to ensure the internet once again runs on competition as opposed to oligopoly.

Active platforms like YouTube are now obliged to properly license our work and at a competitive, negotiable, market rate. YouTube is the biggest and arguably the best streaming service on the planet, now it should have to pay like one.

The fight is not over by a long shot, but this victory is a milestone in our movement’s goals. The Academy led the way in this endeavour and was hugely instrumental in the global campaign to re-assert creativity’s sovereignty over those platforms that exploit our work without paying creators fairly. This is a demonstration of the power of our collective voice – join us to strengthen our voice. Congratulations one and all.”

Graham Davies, Interim CEO of The Ivors Academy, has commented:

“Creators are powerful when they come together. We have mobilised the music creative community and their voice has been listened to. Working with our industry partners we have brought about significant victory. This is the start. We ask more creators to join our movement and strengthen our voice asking for positive change.”